16

“Jo, it’s time. Let’s go,” I whispered, nudging her. She was wrapped up tight in a sleeping bag, the top of her head barely visible.

“Diez minutos más, Mamá,” she mumbled.

“You’re not home. You’re . . . ” I swallowed thickly, glancing out into the horizon. Hours later and the fires from Vegas still ravaged the night sky, and the horror of Remi’s words were still bashing against my chest.

The thought that I’d never hear Mom’s high-pitched squeals whenever Dad tickled her awake in the morning, or watch Dad in his “#1 Dad” apron dancing in his socks, sliding around the kitchen as he made half-burned pancakes on Sunday mornings almost destroyed me.

And Lucy, my bubble-gum-popping, loudmouth-tomboy sister, the thought of her being gone, of everyone being gone, left me breathless.

The thought had lasted only a second, but it was the longest second of my life.

“It’s me, Karenna. We’re in Vegas. Wake up.” I shook her harder. I didn’t care what Remi had said. Jo and I were going home. Everyone was finally asleep, and I hadn’t seen an angel walking around the campsite in the last hour.

And I hadn’t seen Tristan since he’d flown away.

Jo jolted up. “What? Where?”

Her dark eyes drifted to the horizon. “Oh god. It’s real.”

“Hurry, get as many water bottles as you can carry. Help me find a bag or something to carry them.”

“Done and done.” She yanked two backpacks from under her sleeping bag, plopping them at my feet. “Gus gave his to me. The empty one I took from one of the supply boxes.”

“You told Gus?” We didn’t have to sneak out. After Remi announced to everyone that there was nowhere safe to go, he said anyone was free to leave. The way he said it, I wasn’t so sure. The fewer people who knew we’d left, the better.

“I didn’t have to. He had his pack ready when I went back to the campfire. He didn’t give it to me until the angels left the area. He’s just like your mom. He knows things.”

I unzipped the pack. It was filled to the brim with bottled water and protein bars. “We can’t take all this.”

“I told him it was too much, but he insisted.”

Gus slept soundly a few feet away. Firelight danced on his peaceful face. He’d known Tristan and the others were angels. I bet he’d even known about the warrior angels attacking the city. Did he know whether Jo and I would make it back home? Was that why he gave us all this food?

“We’ll leave some here for him and the others,” I said, taking out some of the pack’s contents. I didn’t know where they were going or how long it would take for them to get there.

“I’m not sure where the angels are, but we need to leave before they come back.” My eyes flicked up, scanning the sky again. I told myself I was looking for angels patrolling the area and not Tristan because I was hoping to see him before we left.

Jo held up a finger and walked up the trail.

“Where are you going?” I whisper-shouted as I frantically stuffed the sleeping bags and blankets into the empty backpack and followed her.

“Calder told me where they were just in case we needed him.” Rocks crunched beneath her feet, sounding loud in the still night. I winced. Tristan had said angels had superior hearing compared to humans. If they were nearby, they would hear us.

“He said they made camp about half a mile up the trail. They won’t be able to hear us from here. Look, there they are,” she continued as we climbed to the top of the canyon’s ridge and looked over the crest. Campfires glowed in the distance. The angels had made their camp on this side of the canyon, making their campsite more secluded than the one used by the humans.

“Are you sure they can’t hear us?” I squinted, wishing I could see more than the firelight.

“Very sure,” she said, heading back toward our camp. “Calder said that fallen angels’ powers diminish the longer they’re on Earth. I think that’s why Tristan was so pissed at Zac.”

“He was afraid of Zac getting hurt?”

“Or killed,” she added.

“Angels are immortal. They can’t die.”

An image of the Watchers fighting the warrior angels without weapons flashed through my mind.

“They can now. Calder said something about the warrior angels using the Dark Ways to make their swords.”

“They didn’t have any shields. Zac and the others could’ve died.” I lowered my voice as we walked silently through our camp, careful not to wake the others.

“Calder said after they take the survivors to the safe haven, they are going into battle with the warrior angels.” Her dark eyes filled with worry.

“Did he tell you where the—”

A hand clamped over my mouth. Someone yanked me away from the firelight and into the shadows.

“Shh, both of you, before you wake the others,” the voice whispered.

“What are you doing?” Jo growled, yanking the hand off my mouth.

I breathed a sigh of relief as the young mother stepped forward. “The name’s Hali. I didn’t mean to scare you. I don’t want the others to hear. I know you’re leaving to find your families.”

“If you’re trying to change our minds, you can—”

“I’m not,” Hali interrupted. “There’s something I want to give you, and I didn’t want anyone to see.”

She dug into her jacket, pulling out a dagger in its sheath. It looked like something that came from a museum.

“Take it. It’ll protect you,” she said, handing it to me.

“Thank you, but I can’t. You might need it.”

She placed the dagger in my hand, wrapping my fingers around it as she looked solemnly into my eyes. “Believe me, you will need this more than me. The reign of angels has just begun.”

We followed the empty highway heading east. Even after the light from the campfires had disappeared, neither of us felt like talking. Thankfully, the moon was shining brightly, giving us some light. I kept the flashlight in the backpack wanting to save it for emergencies. We’d passed by dozens of abandoned cars and tried turning on each one. It was as Remi had said, none of them worked.

I wasn’t sure how long we’d been walking. It seemed like hours, but we could still see the Vegas fires in the distance. It was a chilling reminder of what we might find back home. With each empty house and building we passed, all I could think about was what Zac had said. Someone named Belial wanted all humans dead with only a few to keep as slaves.

“Reinado de los ángeles,” Jo said under her breath.

Reign of angels? I glanced at her, puzzled. Her brow furrowed as she appeared lost deep in thought.

“It’s what that woman, Hali, told you. The reign of angels. I swear I’ve heard something like that before. Don’t you think it’s strange she gave it to you?”

“I know, it is.” I took it out from the backpack, pulling it out of its gold sheath. The bronze-bladed dagger felt heavy. I fingered the gold mushroom-shaped hilt, wondering if I’d have the courage to ever use it.

“And what are the chances she’d have it with her on the same day the angels attacked. I mean, come on, who takes stuff like that to family day at a senior center?”

“Family day?”

“They have one once a month. Staff bring their families to the center for the day. They have lunch and games. Calder said The Revelationz organize it. When the angels attacked, Val went straight for the center to get everyone. She was supposed to get as many people as she could out of the city, but everyone thought it was part of a Revelationz act. They didn’t believe her.”

I cringed, thinking about all the people who had died in the city. And this was only the beginning. There would be more.

“Everything that’s happened the past couple of days has been strange. I hate to think we’re going to need this,” I said, putting the dagger back into its sheath.

“Okay, we need to focus. None of the cars work, there’s no electricity . . . holy hell! They’re pulling an EMP on us. Okay, we’ll need to find a motorcycle, easier to maneuver through all these cars. The older the better.”

“Wait. What are you talking about?”

“I think the angels created an electromagnetic pulse to stop anything electrical. For all we know they could still be doing it.”

“Why a motorcycle, they’re electrical too, aren’t they? How do you know all this?”

“Remember the night your aunt made us binge watch that Preppers America show and you fell asleep, which by the way you owe me ’cause that’s ten hours I won’t get back.” She rolled her eyes. “Anyway, there was an episode about vehicles that would work. They recommended a motorcycle, easier to maneuver around packed highways.”

“Are you sure it’ll even work?”

“I’m not sure about anything. All I know about surviving the apocalypse came from your aunt’s TV show marathon.” She shuddered.

The feeling was mutual.

“Well, do you know how to drive one?”

“Nacho gave me a couple of lessons last year.”

“The spring break when you visited him? I seemed to recall you came back with a sprained ankle.”

“Yeah, well, Neto and Javi were running around with Tia Rosa’s pantyhose on their heads. Don’t ask, long story. Anyway, if I really focus, I can—” She stopped suddenly, talking a hold of my arm. “That house over there. It has electricity. Maybe their phone works.”

A hard breeze slammed against my back. An icy chill crawled up my neck. There was a sudden whoosh and the sound of flapping over us.

“Go!” I yelled, taking Jo’s hand.

We raced down the road. A vision of warrior angels with swords flashed through my mind. Even if we could make it to the house, there was no way we could keep them out.

The flapping grew louder, the sound circling above us.

This was it. We couldn’t even make it out of the state alive.

“Get inside and bolt the door!” Stopping, I clutched the dagger and turned to face the warrior angels.

I had no chance with this dagger compared to their swords and hulking strength, but maybe it would give Jo an extra few minutes to find a good hiding place.

Dark wings fell from the sky followed by another angel. I flung the dagger with all my strength, aiming at one of the silhouettes. The hilt thumped against the angel’s chest. It bounced off without even making a scratch and landed ridiculously at his feet.

“Are you insane?” Tristan growled.

I let out a heavy breath at the sound of his voice.

“Ahhh, yah!” Jo attacked the other angel with a large rock. She slammed it against the winged shadow’s head.

“Wait! It’s me!” The angel raised his hands in self-defense just as the rock smacked against his head. He staggered backward falling to the ground.

“Oh my god, Calder.” Jo tossed the rock and knelt by his side.

“Is he okay?” I asked, fumbling through the backpack for the flashlight.

Calder, rubbing the side of his temple, gave Tristan a thumbs up.

“He’ll be fine,” Tristan said. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“It was stupid question. Of course I’m not crazy,” I fumed, wondering why they were here.

“Are you sure? Did you really think this would stop us?”

I turned on the flashlight. He held the dagger up for me to see.

“No, well, maybe for a second. You said angels feel pain.”

“They can, but it would help if you actually took it out of the sheath.” He handed the dagger back. “And maybe you can get away from one angel, but not an entire army.”

“I’ll remember that for next time,” I snapped, clicking the light off. I shoved both the flashlight and dagger back into the backpack.

He snatched the bag out of my hands. “There won’t be a next time. You’re coming back with us. You’ve seen what the warrior angels are capable of. They are turning your Earth inside out. We don’t know what they’ll do next. Or where they’ll strike. You can’t just run off.”

“Look, I don’t know about angels, but for humans, we care about our families. I’ll fight the entire army myself to get back to them.”

“Remi said the cities are—”

“I don’t care what he said! There might be a chance our families are still alive. I have to reach them. I have to try.”

“Humans.” Tristan shook his head, rolling his shoulders, his wings disappearing into his body.

“If we’re such a nuisance, then why are you here? Remi told us we were free to leave.” I was tired of being afraid. No more. I yanked the bag away from him. “Never mind. I don’t want to know. Let’s go, Jo.”

“I can’t let you go. You’ll get yourself killed.” Tristan grabbed my arm. His blue eyes pierced into mine.

“It’s my life.” I jerked my arm out of his grasp. “This is what I choose to do.”

“It’s my choice too,” Jo said, joining me.

“Perhaps we can escort them to the next state?” Calder said, glancing down at Jo with a worried expression. “We can meet Remi at the rendezvous point quickly enough. The caravan will move slowly in search of other survivors along the way.”

Tristan’s gaze held mine, his eyes searching my face, calculating my response.

“We don’t want you to get into trouble,” Jo said quickly when Tristan didn’t answer.

“We won’t. Tristan is a throne like no other,” Calder said, gazing at Tristan in admiration.

Tristan gave a slight shudder. He obviously didn’t like to be reminded he was a throne.

He remained silent, sapphire eyes blazing. He was commanding me to back down. Well, I wasn’t. I lifted my chin in defiance. He was going to have to drag me kicking and screaming back to the camp.

“No,” Tristan finally said. “We’re taking them back to Texas.”

Calder and Jo’s faces lit up.

“Absolutely not,” I blurted. I didn’t know why I didn’t want him coming with us. Maybe he was right and I was insane. It was just something about the way he kept looking at me. I only had one goal in mind, and that was finding my family. I couldn’t worry about anything else.

Tristan slowly smiled. “You’ve made your choice. I’ve made mine. Calder and I are going with you.”

“And so are we,” Val’s voice called out from the sky.

“How did . . . where . . . Calder, I thought you said they were sleeping?” Tristan looked to Calder for an explanation.

“Don’t blame Calder,” Val said, landing softly next to him. “Neither of you have learned the fine art of silent flying. With all that flapping, I’m surprised you didn’t wake up the entire camp.”

“And Calder knows you better than any of us,” Zac said, landing behind them. He patted Calder’s shoulder as he went to Tristan. “He knew exactly what you wanted to do. And he knew you’d be too proud to ask for help.”

Zac paused, his kind, summer-blue eyes gazing down at me. “Angels are no different from humans. We care deeply for our family and friends too.”